Thermal Modelling of the Cylindrical Electromagnets in Transient and Steady-State Modes

Abstract

The heterogeneous and complex structure of the electromagnet makes it difficult to study the heat transfer equations. Therefore, numerical methods and simulation software are used for its analysis. In this paper, an accurate thermal equivalent circuit (TEC) for modeling and studying heat in a cylindrical electromagnet is presented. The proposed TEC can be used in both transient and steady-state modes. Due to the symmetrical structure of the electromagnet, heat transfer is considered in radial and axial directions. Also, the use of winding homogenization techniques has helped to simplify the proposed TEC. To achieve experimental results for approving the accuracy and validity of the proposed TEC, a cylindrical electromagnet was made and installed on a laboratory platform. Two orthogonal and orthocyclic winding coil technologies are used and tested. Comparison of the results of the proposed TEC analysis in MATLAB with the results of electromagnet simulation in COMSOL software and experimental results, shows the high accuracy of the proposed TEC in predicting the thermal behavior of the electromagnet. Simplicity and the high accuracy results are the most important advantages of the proposed thermal equivalent circuit.